My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

by Fredrik Backman

Perfection is Mum’s superpower. She’s not as much fun as Granny, but on the other hand she always knows where Elsa’s Gryffindor scarf is. “Nothing is ever really gone until your mum can’t find it,”

Whenever Mum and Granny start arguing, Elsa turns up the volume and pretends they’re both actresses in a silent movie. Elsa is the sort of child who learned early in life that it’s easier to make your way if you get to choose your own soundtrack.

pedant

The teachers at school always tell Elsa that her problem is her inability to concentrate, which is very odd, Elsa thinks, because Dad’s big problem is that he can’t stop concentrating.

“Only different people change the world,” Granny used to say. “No one normal has ever changed a crapping thing.”

Apart from Granny, the wurse is the first friend Elsa has ever had.

“She was a fantastic grandmother, Elsa. You were all her second chances,”

It’s still a book if you’re reading it on an iPad. Soup is soup whatever bowl it’s in.”

“If I’d been joking I would have said, a blind guy walks into a bar. And a table. And a couple of chairs.”

And they never talk much about it afterwards. Because certain kinds of friends can be friends without talking much.